nicates, "that the simple catenaria is of Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere fidus He may not be able to understand how Philo-veritas may not perceive that professor Robson introduced this theory into the Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica, with a view to shew how simply it might be confuted, and how it violated common sense and uniform experience. Philo-veritas says, that "the haunches of an arch sink;" they must be arches built after the Emerson theory, which, to be mathema ically in equilibration, must literally rick the very heavens; and the haunches 4 which must bear as much fat Huld as may be contained in the land ohilo-veritas' fat benefice. There is See page 26, Principles of Bridges, 2nd editin. another circumstance which your corre. spondent seems not to have discovered, that Dr. Hutton, in the letters in your Magazine, in answer to your review of his Principles of Bridges, and those of the Monthly Review, has virtually relinquished the theory; and he has left the promised improved edition," the nonumque prematur in annum baving long elapsed, to those who justly think that the mud, which so eminent a mathematician has been in, will not soil them." "It is hard to kick against the pricks." non. Philo-veritas forgot to account for the catenarian arch being equally thick throughout, and at the same time having a horizontal extrados; or the amusing surprise professor Robsont gives his readers upon discovering this phenomewill examine the report again to which It may be hoped that Philo-veritas he alludes, particularly that part by professor Robson on Mansard roof, he will learn something respecting the "sinking at the haunches:" perhaps Dr. Milner's report may amuse him. The opinions of fifteen out of the seventeen who gave their opinions in that report, equilibration. Philo-veritas, next time are not very flattering to the theory of he writes, will do well to take the name of Pseudo-veritas. Is it intended by the disciples of the Emerson theory to the catenaria is the best form for an arch assert, that Dr. Gregory pretends that of a bridge, and that he pretends it in the enemies of the Emerson theory would passage, Et cujus-cunque," &c? The rejoice to see this avowed, spheres, it is necessary only at present In regard to the question of equal to observe, that it may be proper in pure mathematics to be positive, but in mixed mathematics it is not philosophical. The complex diagram must be very simple to any one who was acquainted with Dr. Gregory's paper: but Philo-veritas attaches no value to it, otherwise he would have discovered that the first sentence in Lapicida's quotation was nonsense, and consequently not a true translation. It might have been expected that one who had acquired reputation for learning in his college, would have been ashamed to read Dr. Gregory's paper through a translation, or at least not until he had examined it with the original: see Ex Mechanicis, &c. Why has not your correspondent given some 46 an information concerning abutment piers? Lapicida will be obliged; he is not desi He found it prudent not to agitate the rous of having an account of the amours question, as the gentlemen in the report of a college, that being the only part of alluded to, did in getting over the 11th the history left out. Lapicida has question of the select committee of the always been of opinion, however the House of Cominons. Sir, I believe in a lives of some few of the "old fellows" of great measure I repeat your own senti- the universities may have deviated from ments, in stating that the Emerson theory the stoic regimen, that they never forget does not in any way take into consider. to maintain the characters of gentlemen. ation the arch, but applies to a wall The Lapicide, and the Lignicidæ, are an with a hole in it, composed of materials obstinate race: no persuasion can induce nited by cement, either wholly or them to adopt what is diametrically op yound the curve: whether an arch of posite to experience and practice; and any thickness is to be placed in this they presume to assert, in opposition to bolet remains to be explained. Through the learning of the schools, that they can the whole of the Principles of Bridges, discover what is false, though they cannot except in the last ten lines of the last exactly define what is true. The publipage, the word voussoir is not menti- cation on arches, &c. was not referred to oned; and then, in the dictionary, merely through friendship to the author, as to state that there are such things. Dr. Philo-veritas insinuates; but now still Hutton's definition of an arch, viz. more so, as the dire Philo-veritatis. opening of a bridge through which, or acumen, without having any knowander which, the water passes;" esta- ledge of it, has already devoted it blishes the opinion which is universally to those purposes from which the repu held of the theory, that nothing more is tation of the Monthly Magazine will required than a curved intrades, or ma- preserve his own farrago. Lapicida has thematical arch, or arch of no thickness. seen the article" Bridge" in the New CyHence it is a mis-nomer to call the clopædia, in which he finds the following Emerson theory, a theory of the equili- notable passage:-" A mere arch conbration of arches: it is literally, when structed in this way, viz. according to applied to bridges, a theory of the form De la Hire, Belidor, Varignon, Parent, of the fat mould, &c. on the extradosses other French philosophers, and Mr. of the arches of bridges. If Mr. Atwood, would remain in equilibria as Myle's practice, in regard to the long as the constituent voussoirs had voussoirs, be just, and Mr. Atwood, and liberty to slide without friction down the the French philosophers, are not deplo- respective inclined planes on which they, rably ignorant, the Emerson theorists lay:" and among other extraordinary have to begin again upon a new series of lights thrown upon their theory, "that intradosses for their walls. the voussoirs of such arches must be cut to different oblique angles." He then ejaculates: "But even this is not all! architects contrive to have the butting side of their wedges (voussoirs) so rough, as to occasion a great deal of friction between them.” These architects must have been the workmen who told Philo veritas that arches sink at their haunches, or it must be a new precept established on purpose for the Emerson theory.* Lapicida cannot but suspect, when he observes the industry which has been displayed in the historical part of which are brought into view, that the this article, and the number of bridges former part was intended as a body o prctical evidence to confute the Eine son theory, and that the theoretial account was intended, ironically, to irther that object. LAPICIDA The defenders of the Emerson theory, it may be apprehended, are unacquainted that the word extrados, as applied to arches, has but one meaning: it is probale their errors may have arisen originally from a misconception which they now think proper to maintain. If Philoveritas will condescend to clear up any of the inconsistencies of the true theory, See the diagrams, and explanation, in Emerson's Mechanics. And if of any thickness, whether equally thick throughout, or whether the intrados of The Emerson wall is the extrados of an arch of equilibration, to be guessed by the mason? I How is it that the wonder of this theory, viz. the curve for a horizontal extra cos, approaches so near to a semi circle, and differs so materially from an ellipse; and the properties approach so nearly to those of an ell pse, and differ so materi lly from those of a semi-circle? Are not the details as curious as the results in the 5th Prep. Principles of Bridges? For the Monthly Magazine. WALKS IN BERKSHIRE. Ey MR. JAMES NORRIS BREWER. No. IV.-Containing a Visit to the antient Vindonum of the Romans. I (Concluded from vol. 29, page 527.) T would be trite to expatiate on the sensations with which the traveller approaches the desolate site, and mouldering outlines, of a once populous, gay, and formidable city. On this occasino, perhaps, most men are subject to the same course of ideas, and are agitated by similar feelings of regret, despondency, and wonder. Through labyrinths of Woodland and ill-beaten roads, now fa miliar only to the hind, though once traversed by throngs of the polished conquerors of England, and their dependants, I trod, with increasing ardor, and believed the object of our expedition yet distant, when my companion suddenly arrested my progress, by exclaiming, "We are there!" It was even so. On this rough read, where scarce a dozen feet tread during the whole of a summer's day, and amid these wild and tangled branches, which almost forbid the traveller's approach, we were close beside the potent, the august city, from which Constantius issued his edicts to a trembling and subdued people. Silchester (which is really in the county of Hants, though immediately on the confines of Berkshire) is supposed to have been the Vindonum of the Romans. The occurrence of a suppo. sition on this subject must appear surprising when we consider the former extent of the city, but such is the effect of ages on a mere record of stone and mortar, that the original appellation is, in fact, conjectural, though the most in genious and industrious antiquaries concur in believing the Roman Vindonum to have occupied this site. Following the lead of this probable conjecture, we find that the city was built by Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, and that the founder sowed corn on the intended ground-plot of his city, with a view of shielding the future What a strange propensity mankind possess to enlarge on the particulars of a story as it passes through their hands! Modern writers on the subject of this antient cy, assert that the emperor Constantius scattered grain completely round the traces at the lis, as an omen of their perpetuity. Put Ninnius, on whose authority the anec de solely rests, says, in explicit language, that Constantius merely sowed three grains inhabitants from the miseries of poverty and degradation. If so, a propitiatory offering has seldom been made with less success. While the Roman empire continued to derive strength from a simplicity and parity of internal arrangement, Vindonum inaintained its consequence, aud was deemed one of the chief provincialcities constructed and inhabited by the masters of the world. But the Romans, though so enterprising and military a people, were unable to exist in their British provinces without the support of the parent country. They made a faint effort to establish in Vindonum independent authority, but the endea vour was futile, and the barbarous Britons" took a triumphant possession of the city, so strongly fortified and so long tenanted by their invaders. The Britons termed their new acquisition Caer Segont (the city of the Secontians,) and this was the spot selected for the inauguration of the chivalrous and mighty king Arthur. But the prosperity of the city while under British dominion was short-lived. A fresh horde of sanguinary visitors, under the banners of Saxony, poured on the afflicted islanders. and Caer Segont was one of the first strong-holds against which they directed their arms. While defended by those who laid the foundation, the walls of Vindonum proved impregnable. the aboriginal Britons (ind as are their But descendants of the boast of freedom) seem to have been born for slavery, Useless were the mighty towers and embattled gateways of the Romans. The Saxons prevailed; and, as a token of their victory, they razed the city to the ground, dismantled its fortifications, and tried to level entirely the massive walls formed by Constantius; but eve the destruction of these was too severe 4 task for their industry and patience, although the Romans were equally exposed to danger and interruption when they heaped together the ponderous quarry of materials, and embattled the outlines of the city. Since the ravages have abandoned the devoted spot; and of the Saxons, all hints at population the shepherd and his dog, or the casual stranger, led thither by curiosity and of corn on the ground whereon the city was built." Seldon, have three grains of sced produced such an abundant crop as these, when assisted by the manure of a modern annotator's ingenuity. pity pity, possess uncontested power over the districts once defended with streams of Roman and of British blood. I have described the first view of the majestic fragments of Vindonum as bursting on the traveller while he threads the mazes of obscure and embowered lanes. The prospect is truly impressive and surprising. We see a wall, in some places still nearly twenty feet high, and through the whole boundary of the city twenty-four feet in thickness, half-veiled by towering onks which have taken root even in the firm cement of the ponderous wall itself. The slow process of vegetation, which has tinted the stone with green, and created a little forest in the place once occupied by battlements and coping, is very nearly the whole alteration that has been effected since the hour in which the Saxons ravaged the city, and reduced the pride of its fortified barrier to a mere monument of the instability of local grandeur. The Romans were judiciously attached (as the situation of antient Rome might suffice to prove,) to an elevated site for their most important cities. In attention to this habitual predilection, Vindonum was placed on the apex of a cluster of hills, whose summits appear to have been rendered artificially level for the accommodation of the military settlers. The city was built in the form of a parallelogram 2600 by 2000 feet, and was entirely surrounded by a wall of the thickness mentioned above, and of a very considerable height, though its precise degree of elevation cannot now be ascertained. Four gateways opened to the city, the situations of which are still distinctly marked, and show that the entrances were placed exactly at the four cardinal points. The foundation of the walls consists of regular layers of large flat stones, and the walls are composed of rubble-stone, flints, and pebbles, held together by a bed of strong cement. The stones and flints are not arranged with any uniformity of method, but are variously placed in the cement, at different parts of the wall. Still, for an indeterminate distance, a similarity of arrangement appears to have been preserved, as if certain specified proportions of the structure had been allotted to the task of a particular band of artificers, and each band had its peculiar plan of workmanship. The extent of the wall is nearly two English miles, and round the whole was 1 a deep ditch, or fosse, a great part of which is now filled with the ruins of the walls. Beyond the ditch was constructed the external vallum, which may still be easily traced, and which is, in many places, fifteen or sixteen feet high. On the western side of the walls is an embankment, thrown up in a semi-circular form, with a ditch beyond it. This bank is of a considerable height, and was evidently constructed for the defence of the city. On the north-east, at some snall distance froin the city wall, are the remains of an amphitheatre, which are now used as a yard for the cattle of a neighbouring farmer! A street, thirty feet in width, extends from each gate to the opposite entrance, and the traces of various subordinate passages are still to be observed towards the approach of harvest in dry seasons, when the corn (probably from the circumstance of the pavement of the streets still remaining entire, on which lie heaped the materials of the houses razed by the Saxons) fails, and the examiner may clearly ascertain the width and direction of each smaller avenue once trodden by the Roman inhabitants. From the very retired character of the neighbourhood, the walls have escaped with singular good fortune from all other dilapidations than such slow hints at fragility as are the inevitable consequences of a lengthened age. The whole of the remains appear now in the same state as when visited by Camden. That most industrious antiquary mentions an aperture or passage, underneath the southern wall, through which he could scarcely pass, in consequence of the heaps of rubbish which incumbered the former private avenue of the garrison. This passage (called Onion's hole) presents exactly the same aspect at the present day. Indeed, it would almost appear that the various generations of the moderns have concurred in treating these ruins with tenderness and respect; for, between two and three hundred years back, a church and farm-house (both mentioned by Camden as recent erections) were con structed near the eastern entrance. These are both remaining, and I found them to be composed of brick. Now, as such immense quantities of useful materials were contained close at hand, in the fragments of the Roman walls, it seems difficult to discover any other motive for the founder of these buildings preferring preferring the use of brick, which must have been procured at,much trouble and expense, than a respectful regard for the melancholy, yet august, memorials of a remote and interesting period. But if on the one hand, it would appear that the relics have been treated with forbearance, it is most certain that on the other, they have not been investigated with due zeal and perseverance. Camden mentions an inscription found here, which was conveyed to London, and placed in the garden of lord Burleigh. And since the time of Camden, the foundation of a large structure supposed to have been a temple, was discovered near the middle of the city, within a spacious square, formed partly by the intersection of the two principal streets. Roman coins are continually thrown to the surface, by the least cursory deviation of the plough, and found by the peasants, who term them (in allusion to a fancied giant) Onion's pennies. But all these assurances of the soil within the walls containing a vast hoard of antiquarian treasures, are insufficient to stimulate the proprietor of the spot to an activity of research; and he is contented to let the ground (about 100 acres) to a farmer, possessed of very little more feeling than the clod over which he drives his horses.* Recollecting the great value which the Romans placed on water, and how very scrupulous they were as to the purity and salubrious qualities of that used at their tables, I searched, with some in terest, into the character of the rivulets on the confines of Vindonum, and found that the city had, in fact, been supplied by a spring of most inviting delicacy, which still pours its clear and bubbling torrent into the incumbered fosse. Respecting so vast (and to them incomprehensible) a ruin, it may be supposed that the natives entertain fabulous and extravagant opinions. They, indeed, suppose that the city was inhabited during its prosperity by giants: and a person, who thought himself more intelligent than his neighbours, informed me that these giants were of Hebrew origin, and that there was no history extant which mentioned the city, except At the door of the farm-house, a horseblock is constructed of a portion of the shaft of a Roman column, on the top of which is placed the mutilated fragment of a capital. Both of these were discovered near that central square which is supposed to have been the site of a temple. MONTHLY MAG. No, 202, one written at the time of the giants in the Greek language. It is also a current opinion, that the city was impervious to all modes of assault, except the danger of conflagration; and that brands, accordingly, were fastened to birds, who settled on the city, and spread a flame throughout its buildings. A very credulous antiquary might almost believe that this latter circumstance has some connexion with traditionary fact, and that the strength of the out-works had really repelled every endeavor of the Saxons, until they cast torches over the walls, and added the horrors of conflagration to the fury of their external attack. The modern name of Vindonum (Silchester,) Camden supposes to signify the great city." But it later critics, that the word Sil or Sel, was from appears, understood to mean a hill, or elevation. It would, therefore, seem more likely that the compound term Silchester, was intended to express "the high city," or "the city on the hill;" a form of designation supported, as we have seen, by the local circumstances of antient Vindonum. I For the Monthly Magazine. the lines of our bard: "For |